MEDAL OF HONOR BY THE NUMBERS

President Abraham Lincoln signed the law that created the medal July 12, 1861. The award is the nation's highest
decoration for combat valor. Wars and
campaigns, and the number of medals that have been awarded:

1,522: Civil War

426: Indian campaigns

110: Spanish-American War

119: World War I

465: World War II

134: Korean War

246: Vietnam War

2: Somalia

6: Iraq and Afghanistan wars

Nearly five years after Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta of San Diego died smothering a grenade during battle in Iraq, the Navy Cross he received posthumously is still in limbo.

His family, some members of Congress and grass-roots supporters nationwide — including the Marines he saved — feel he deserves the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest distinction for combat valor. His mother, Rosa Peralta of San Diego's Encanto neighborhood, is reluctant to accept any lesser award.

“Hopefully, sometime the Pentagon will open its eyes and see that they've done wrong,” said Peralta's brother-in-law, David Donald of San Diego's Webster community. “If it's the last thing we do, we'll keep fighting.”

Peralta's award is at the center of a standoff that has pitted lawmakers and veterans against the Pentagon, which they say is too tightfisted with the Medal of Honor.

During the Vietnam War, which spanned roughly eight years, 246 service members received the Medal of Honor, according to figures from the widely respected Web site
homeofheroes.com
. In the Korean War, which lasted three years, 134 were awarded. During World War II, military leaders presented 465.

Even after adjusting for the smaller troop totals in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, the number of the top awards is a tiny fraction of what was given in the past. An analysis published in the spring by
Military Times
showed a rate ranging from 2.3 Medals of Honor per 100,000 troops in uniform (during the Korean War) to 2.9 per 100,000 troops (for World War II).

For the two current wars, the rate is 0.1 per 100,000 troops, or one in a million.

On Sept. 17, President Barack Obama presented the sixth Medal of Honor for action in the current wars to the family of Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared Monti of Raynham, Mass., for braving enemy fire to aid one of his wounded men three years ago in Afghanistan. All six Medals of Honor have been presented to men who died earning their awards.

“I don't understand why they're being so stingy with them,” said retired Marine Lt. Col. Tom Richards, president of the California chapter of the Legion of Valor and a Navy Cross recipient from the Vietnam War. “It puzzles me completely. I'm certain there are more people out there who deserve high-level awards.”

Like Richards, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, said he believes Peralta should have received the Medal of Honor. He also would like to see the medal-evaluation process speeded up.

The House has passed his amendment calling for a Pentagon review of the awards process, and Hunter is seeking to create a committee of Medal of Honor recipients to advise the military.

“Something's wrong now; something's broken,” said Hunter, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. “We ought to fix it, without politicizing it.”

In a statement released Thursday by the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Pentagon officials said warfare has changed dramatically since the Vietnam War.

They said the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts are fought more with remotely operated weaponry — such as precision-guided bombs and improvised explosive devices — than through the kind of close-quarters combat with a visible enemy that has historically created the opportunity for demonstrations of heroism.

“The war is against non-uniformed insurgents who inflict damage on U.S. personnel by using tactics and techniques that reduce their risk of being personally engaged,” the statement said.

Marines, though, point to Maj. Brian Chontosh, who alone charged a trench filled with Iraqi troops during the March 2003 invasion and killed at least 20 enemy soldiers. There's also Sgt. Maj. Brad Kasal, who absorbed 40 pieces of shrapnel shielding an injured Marine from a grenade blast during a 2004 battle, and kept fighting although he lost more than half of his blood.

Both men received the Navy Cross, the military's second-highest decoration for combat bravery.

Hunter's amendment is part of the House version of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act, but not the Senate version. A conference committee will decide whether it survives in the final bill sent to Obama.

Hunter also has asked the House conferees to consider the creation of a panel of 10 or more Medal of Honor recipients or other veterans to review award nominations and make recommendations to the secretary of defense about candidates who may have been overlooked.

“This would be made up of combat-tested men. They have seen it, done it, know what it's like,” Hunter said. “We don't want Congress looking at this, politicizing the Medal of Honor.”

There's precedent for such a group, said valor-award historian Doug Sterner of Pueblo, Colo., who runs
homeofheroes.com
.

In 1917, the Army convened a board of retired generals to review thousands of Medals of Honor awarded since the Civil War, some with little apparent justification. The board revoked 911 medals — including 827 that were awarded to a Maine unit as a re-enlistment incentive during the Civil War.

In last week's statement, Pentagon officials said they couldn't comment on pending legislation but are comfortable with congressional oversight.

“The Department welcomes the opportunity to conduct a review of the current Medal of Honor award process as directed by Congress,” the statement said. “The Department and military services are committed to appropriately recognizing the valorous acts of our service members.”

It's Gates' rejection of a request to upgrade Peralta's valor award that has put Hunter and the San Diego County delegation squarely at odds with the Pentagon over such honors.

All five local representatives — three Republicans and two Democrats — signed letters seeking to overturn Gates' decision in September 2008. So have California's two Democratic senators, as well as members of the Hispanic caucus and the delegation from Hawaii, where Peralta's unit was based.

Hunter has no plans to let up in his fight for Peralta or in pushing the Pentagon on the Medal of Honor process.

“(Hunter) is headed in the right direction,” Sterner said. “He's holding their feet to the fire.”